A disastrous start saw Richarlison after three minutes outsmart the callow Ozan Kabak and burst into the penalty area where he easily beat Alisson Becker, who was slow in setting himself and left much of the right side of his goal exposed.
Liverpool responded with a strike by Trent Alexander Arnold and then a volley from Jordan Henderson, both of them well saved by Jordan Pickford, but these were rare moments of pressure from the Reds going forward.
Henderson, playing at centre back again, went down with a groin injury after 33 minutes and had to be replaced by Nat Phillips, putting the Liverpool captain on the treatment table alongside Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Fabinho. You can call this bad luck, but Henderson was straining all game, trying to play both centre back and midfield and it was this extra exertion that cost him today. It bears repeating that Henderson is not a centre half and when he plays there, rather than in midfield, Liverpool are a shadow of the team they’ve been in the last two seasons, during which they’ve won the Champions League and the Premier League.
When Phillips came on, he played well, as he’s done every time he’s been called on by Jurgen Klopp, which begs the question how Kabak has got in ahead of Phillips or why Phillips was not trusted to partner Kabak and allow Henderson to take a position in midfield. Henderson’s replacement in midfield Thiago Alcantara put in another bloodless, meandering performance and Curtis Jones and Gini Wijnaldum were no better. Liverpool’s midfield was crying out for Henderson’s urgency and passion, but the captain’s injury now means the sluggish three in the middle are likely to see an extended run together. Perhaps the now-fit Naby Keita will be able to provide something different with his driving runs into threatening areas. Neither Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Xherdan Shaqiri, who came on for Jones after 63 minutes, have looked as if they have the answers to Liverpool’s creativity and penetration problems.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw Liverpool step up the pace, with some good play from Trent Alexander Arnold, but Salah, Mané and Firmino never looked like taking the chances that fell to them. Awful to say, but Firmino may be finished as a top-class striker. Not only did he miss the chances that came his way, but he made a hash of them. Liverpool are clearly missing Diogo Jota and the decision to allow Takumi Minamino to go out on loan to Southampton – where he has scored two goals in three games – now looks flawed.
At 0-1, there was always a hope that Liverpool could conjure up something that would earn a draw, salvage pride and keep Everton at bay in the race for the top four. This was forgotten on the 83rd minute when Everton substitute Dominic Calvin-Lewin went through on goal after a pass from Richarlison. Alisson saved well, then the Toffees’ striker, going for the rebound, stumbled over Alexander Arnold, kneeing him in the head. To the naked eye, it looked like a penalty but the replay clearly showed an accidental collision and no foul and VAR advised the referee, Chris Kavanagh, to review his decision on the screen at the side of the pitch. The whole world expected Kavanagh to see his obvious but understandable mistake, only for the referee, after a cursory glance, to decide he was right first time and award a penalty. An attempt by Kavanagh to show authority and decisiveness demonstrated, instead, his foolishness and poor judgment. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored from the spot and Liverpool were so demoralised that the remainder of the game passed without much of a response from them.
The Reds remain sixth on 40 points. Everton have the same number of points in seventh, with a game in hand. Liverpool are still in a fair position to challenge for fourth. Chelsea who are currently in the last Champions League place are only three points ahead of the Reds, having drawn 1-1 with Southampton in today’s early kickoff. However, playing like they’ve been playing for the last two months and without Klopp taking the decision to play centre backs as centre backs and midfielders as midfielders, then there’s no reason to expect that Liverpool's form will pick up dramatically and they'll finish where necessary.
